Sickle cell disease has been recognized within West Africa for several centuries. Sickle cell anemia and the existence of sickle hemoglobin (Hb S) was the first genetic disease to be understood at the molecular level. It is recognized today as the morphological and clinical result of a glycine to valine substitution at the No. 6 position of the beta globin chain (Ingram, 1956, Nature 178:792-794. The origin of the amino acid change and of the disease state is the consequence of a single nucleotide substitution (Marotta et al., 1977, J. Biol. Chem. 252:5040-5053). The major source of morbidity and mortality of patients suffering from sickle cell disease is vascular occlusion , caused by the sickled cells, which causes repeated episodes of pain in both acute and chronic form and also causes ongoing organ damage with the passage of time. It has long been recognized and accepted that the deformation and distortion of sickle cell erythrocytes upon complete deoxygenation is caused by polymerization and intracellular gelation of sickle hemoglobin, hemoglobin S (Hb S). The phenomenon is well reviewed and discussed by Eaton and Hofrichter, 1987, Blood 70:1245. The intracellular gelatin and polymerization of Hb S can occur at any time during erythrocyte's journey through the vasculature. Thus, erythrocytes in patients with sickle cell disease containing no polymerized hemoglobin S may pass through the microcirculation and return to the lungs without sickling, may sickle in the veins or may sickle in the capillaries.
The probability of each of these events is determined by the delay time for intracellular gelation relative to the appropriate capillary transit time (Eaton et al., 1976, Blood 47:621). In turn, the delay time is dependent upon the oxygenation state of the hemoglobin, with deoxygenation shortening the delay time. Thus, if it is thermodynamically impossible for intracellular gelation to take place, or if the delay time at venous oxygen pressures is longer than about 15 seconds, cell sickling will not occur. Alternatively, if the delay time is between about 1 and 15 seconds, the red cell will likely sickle in the veins. However, if the delay time is less than about 1 second, red cells will sickle within the capillaries.
For red cells that sickle within the capillaries, a number of possible consequent events exist, ranging from no effect on transit time, to transient occlusion of the capillary, to a more permanent blockage that may ultimately result in ischemia or infarction of the surrounding cells, and in destruction of the red cell.
It has long been recognized that the cytoplasm of the normal erythrocyte comprises approximately 70% water. Water crosses a normal erythrocyte membrane in milliseconds; however, the loss of cell water causes an exponential increase in cytoplasmic viscosity as the mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) rises above about 32 g/dl. Since cytoplasmic viscosity is a major determinate of erythrocyte deformability and sickling, the dehydration of the erythrocyte has substantial rheological and pathological consequences. Thus, the physiological mechanisms that maintain the water content of normal erythrocytes and the pathological conditions that cause loss of water from erythrocytes in the blood circulation are critically important. Not surprisingly, regulation of erythrocyte dehydration has been recognized as an important therapeutic approach towards the treatment of sickle cell disease. Since cell water will follow any osmotic change in the intracellular concentration of ions, the maintenance of the red cell's potassium concentration is of particular importance (Stuart and Ellory, 1988, Brit J. Haematol. 69:1-4).
Many attempts and approaches to therapeutically treating dehydrated sickle cells (and thus decreasing polymerization of hemoglobin S by lowering the osmolality of plasma) have been tried with limited success, including the following approaches: intravenous infusion of distilled water (Gye et al., 1973, Am. J. Med. Sci. 266:267-277); administration of the antidiuretic hormone vasopressin together with a high fluid intake and salt restriction (Rosa et al., 1980, M. Eng. J. Med. 303:1138-1143; Charache and Walker, 1981, Blood 58:892-896); the use of monensin to increase the cation content of the sickle cell (Clark et al., 1982, J. Clin. Invest. 70:1074-1080; Fahim and Pressman, 1981, Life Sciences 29:1959-1966); intravenous administration of cetiedil citrate (Benjamin et al., 1986, Blood 67:1442-1447; Berkowitz and Orringer, 1984, Am. J. Hematol. 17:217-223; Stuart et al., 1987, J. Clin. Pathol. 40:1182-1186); and the use of oxpentifylline (Stuart et al., 1987, J. Clin. Pathol. 40:1182-1186).
Another approach towards therapeutically treating dehydrated sickle cells involves the administration of imidazole, nitroimidazole and triazole antimycotic agents such as Clotrimazole (U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,992 to Brugnara et al.). Clotrimazole, an imidazole-containing antimycotic agent, has been shown to be a specific, potent inhibitor of the Gardos channel of normal and sickle erythrocytes, and prevents Ca.sup.2+ -dependent dehydration of sickle cells both in vitro and in vivo (Brugnara et al., 1993, J. Clin. Invest. 92:520-526; De Franceschi et al., 1994, J. Clin. Invest. 93:1670-1676). When combined with a compound which stabilizes the oxyconformation of Hb S, Clotrimazole induces an additive reduction in the clogging rate of a micropore filter and may attenuate the formation of irreversibly sickled cells (Stuart et al., 1994, J. Haematol. 86:820-823). Other compounds that contain a heteroaryl imidazole-like moiety believed to be useful in reducing sickle erythrocyte dehydration via Gardos channel inhibition include miconazole, econazole, butoconazole, oxiconazole and sulconazole. Each of these compounds is a known antimycotic. Other imidazole-containing compounds have been found to be incapable of inhibiting the Gardos channel and preventing loss of potassium.
As can be seen from the above discussion, reducing sickle erythrocyte dehydration via blockade of the Gardos channel is a powerful therapeutic approach towards the treatment and/or prevention of sickle cell disease. Compounds capable of inhibiting the Gardos channel as a means of reducing sickle cell dehydration are highly desirable, and are therefore an object of the present invention.
Cell proliferation is a normal part of mammalian existence, necessary for life itself. However, cell proliferation is not always desirable, and has recently been shown to be the root of many life-threatening diseases such as cancer, certain skin disorders, inflammatory diseases, fibrotic conditions and arteriosclerotic conditions.
Cell proliferation is critically dependent on the regulated movement of ions across various cellular compartments, and is associated with the synthesis of DNA. Binding of specific polypeptide growth factors to specific receptors in growth-arrested cells triggers an array of early ionic signals that are critical in the cascade of mitogenic events eventually leading to DNA synthesis (Rozengurt, 1986, Science 234:161-164). These include (1) a rapid increase in cystolic Ca.sup.2+, mostly due to rapid release of Ca.sup.2+ from intracellular stores; (2) capacitative Ca.sup.2+ influx in response to opening of ligand-bound and hyperpolarization-sensitive Ca.sup.2+ channels in the plasma membrane that contribute further to increased intracellular Ca.sup.2+ concentration (Tsien and Tsien, 1990, Annu. Rev. Cell Biol. 6:715-760; Peppelenbosch et al., 1991, J. Biol. Chem. 266:19938-19944); and (3) activation of Ca2+-dependent K.sup.+ channels in the plasma membrane with increased K.sup.+ conductance and membrane hyperpolarization (Magni et al., 1991, J. Biol. Chem. 261:9321-9327). These mitogen-induced early ionic changes, considered critical events in the signal transduction pathways, are powerful therapeutic targets for inhibition of cell proliferation in normal and malignant cells.
One therapeutic approach towards the treatment of diseases characterized by unwanted or abnormal cell proliferation via alteration of the ionic fluxes associated with early mitogenic signals involves the administration of Clotrimazole. As discussed above, Clotrimazole has been shown to inhibit the Ca.sup.2+ -activated potassium channel of erythrocytes. In addition, Clotrimazole inhibits voltage- and ligand-stimulated Ca.sup.2+, influx mechanisms in nucleated cells (Villalobos et al., 1992, FASEB J. 6:2742-2747; Montero et al., 1991, Biochem. J. 277:73-79) and inhibits cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo (Benzaquen et al., 1995, Nature Medicine 1:534-540). Recently, Clotrimazole and other imidazole-containing antimycotic agents capable of inhibiting Ca.sup.2 +-activated potassium channels have been shown to be useful in the treatment of arteriosclerosis (U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,959 to Halperin et al.), as well as other disorders characterized by unwanted or abnormal cell proliferation.
As can be seen from the above discussion, inhibiting mammalian cell proliferation via alteration of ionic fluxes associated with early mitogenic signals is a powerful therapeutic approach towards the treatment and/or prevention of diseases characterized by unwanted or abnormal cell proliferation. Compounds capable of inhibiting mammalian cell proliferation are highly desirable, and are therefore also an object of the present invention.